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20 museums team up for the archaeological event of the year Ancient Haute Couture
[Maddalena Delli]
We may often think that today’s obsession with feeling and looking well is the result of the 20th century boom of the cosmetic and fashion industries, but a closer look at history seems to show us otherwise. Take the ongoing exhibition “Moda Costume Bellezza nell’Antichità” for instance. On display at the National Archaeological Museum in Florence (Via della Colonna) are over four hundred items from cultures ranging from the Pharaohs’ ancient Egypt to Rome, passing through the Greek and Etruscan civilizations, ending in the 6th century A.D. with Coptic and Roman Egypt.
One single look at the perfect build and the elaborate hairdo of the Kouros Milani - the Greek marble statue of a young man dating from the 6th century B.C. - is all it takes to realize that he could easily feature in any of today’s glossy magazines, or even fare well in Hollywood if he were alive (we all know he wouldn’t even necessarily be required to have any outstanding acting abilities...).
Thanks to its chosen subject, the exhibition has the added appeal of triggering our curiosity and making us feel closer than ever to our great-great-great-(etc.)-grandparents. Indeed, some of the garments, jewels and hairstyles portrayed in these bas-reliefs and sculptures have an astonishingly modern feel and freshness to them. Fashion students will find them simply mind-blowing.
Moreover, although some of the pieces on display are world-known objects that can be found in any archaeology textbook (like the François Crater or the Kouros Milani itself), the exhibition is worth seeing also because it displays for the first time ever several dozen items which have hitherto remained unknown to the public (well, yes: like any other gallery in Florence, the Archaeological Museum is only able to display a fraction of its huge collections).
Let me also point out here that since the Italian word ‘costume’ of the title Moda Costume Bellezza translates into English as both ‘customs’ and ‘costume’, it becomes obvious how wide the subject matter of the exhibition really is, stretching to cover fields as different as eating habits and funerary practices.
Anyway, the exhibition is a clear statement that there’s nothing new under the sun after all, and shows that our forefathers (at least in the well-off classes) were as obsessed with beauty and fashion as we are.
Indeed, the only difference seems to lie in advertising methods: we have glossy magazines and television, they had sculpture and ceramics...
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